Bridge design pact OK'd

An Indianapolis engineering firm has been hired to design a new bridge east of Bluff Point in advance of a proposed wind farm project.
Jay County Commissioners this morning signed a contract with R.W. Armstrong and Associates to design a replacement for bridge 226, about one mile east of Bluff Point on county road 650 South.
“It’s in pretty bad shape,” county engineer Dan Watson said.
Cost of the engineering work is $54,500, with the expected cost of the bridge replacement to be in the neighborhood of $300,000.
Watson said design work is expected to take three to four months, with the project advertised for bids this summer and construction in the fall.
NextEra Energy, the company behind the proposed Bluff Point Wind Farm, had earlier indicated that work on the project could begin this summer. But county officials said this morning they’ve heard nothing from the company about a construction timetable, and no construction-related paperwork has yet been filed.
Watson said that NextEra had already determined that it would not be using that stretch of 650 South, in part because of the narrow width of the bridge, so bridge replacement would not interfere with any wind farm construction work.[[In-content Ad]]